Meet Author Elizabeth Bernhardt at Book Launch Event

If you are a fan of history, Italy, the Renaissance, or women’s history–or even of historical fiction and intrigue–you won’t want to miss this event! Join us for an evening with Dr. Elizabeth Bernhardt, author of a captivating and recently-released book called Genevra Sforza and the Bentivoglio (Amsterdam University Press, 2023). It is a history of a woman and her enormous family (over 175 people lived in her home at one point), and the text’s storyline is sometimes even more fascinating and stranger than fiction. Set in fifteenth-century Bologna, the book tells the story of an illegitimate girl named Genevra who served as a young noblewoman married twice into the powerful Bentivoglio family; and in an entirely female fashion, we will see how Genevra became a key player in the turbulent politics of Bologna and Rome. Bernhardt will share her insights into the writing and research process (research was conducted in over thirty different Italian archives over the past two decades); and she will be happy to answer your questions about the book, its setting and its many characters. Genevra Sforza was also the half-sister of Battista Sforza of Urbino whose famous portrait by Piero della Francesca (held at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence) has become a Renaissance icon. St. Louis artist Chip Reay has reworked Battista’s diptych portrait into several sculptural pieces that were shown at the Bruno David Gallery. Reay has also prepared new work based on Genevra’s diptych portrait for this event. Bernhardt’s informal and fun talk about Genevra and early modern family history will take place at Bruno David Gallery, a contemporary art space in St. Louis (Clayton), on Friday, May 5th, at 6 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.